Sandro Cortese took an amazing first victory in World Supersport at his third race in this championship. The German rider fought with Federico Caricasulo and Jules Cluzel after starting from pole position and then he managed to distance his two opponents till winning the race with one second and a half of advantage. Disappointing 4th place for Lucas Mahias, who remains the championship leader because of the mistake made by Randy Krummenacher, who crashed after 4 laps and finished 11th. Bad luck for MV Agusta’s Raffaele de Rosa, forced to retire due to technical problems while he was fighting for the podium.
SUPERB SANDRISSIMO – Cortese won at Motorland Aragon after a stunning performance. The Kallio Racing Yamaha rider fought for the first three positions together with Caricasulo and Cluzel, with whom he distanced all the others after a first stage in a bigger group. Halfway the race, Cortese and Caricasulo exchanged the first two positions many times with Cluzel following them close, but with just 4 laps to go “Sandrissimo” shook Caricasulo off and went to win the race with one second and a half of advantage, while “Carica” finished the race in 2nd position followed by Jules Cluzel. Cortese got his first race win in WorldSSP after finishing 3rd and 4th at Phillip Island and Buriram and it really looks like he can fight for the title…
MAHIAS 4TH, KRUMMENACHER DOWN – It wasn’t a great day for Lucas Mahias and Randy Krummenacher, who shared the championship lead with 45 points before the race. The Frenchman of GRT Yamaha finished 4th after never being able to fight for the podium and at the end he paid five seconds and a half from Sandro Cortese and four seconds off the podium. Anyway, Mahias remains the championship leader thanks to Randy Krummenacher’s mistake: the Swiss rider was in the front group, but at the 4th of the 16 laps of the race he crashed at Turn 9. Finalli the Bardahl Evan Bros. Racing rider rejoined the race and, after a nice recovery, he crossed the line in 11th position.
WHAT A PITY, DE ROSA! – In any case, the name of the unluckiest rider of the race is Raffaele de Rosa. The MV Agusta rider was fighting with four Yamaha machines after going first with a good start, but at the 7th lap he was forced to retire due to a technical problem. The bad Sunday for MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag Team was then completed by Ayrton Badovini’s fall during the same lap. What a pity, because there were all the conditions to give a good result to the Italian manufacturer.
THE OTHERS – After a brilliant first part of the race, Lorini Honda’s Kyle Smith finished 5th by beating Luke Stapleford in the final stages. 10th place for Rob Hartog, first European Supersport rider in the ranking in front of Eemeli Lahti, 2nd in ESS with the inly Suzuki in Supersport field. As well as Badovini and De Rosa, also Alfonso Coppola and Hikari Okubo retired, while as well as Randy Krummenacher Thomas Gradinger finished the race after a small crash.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS – Lucas Mahias remains the championship leader with 58 points, but Cortese (54), Krummenacher (50) and Caricasulo (49) are very close. Lots of excitement to be expected for the upcoming race at Assen.
Photo Credit: Kenneth Lambrecht